By: Zak Rahim
The 8th Graders at JLS are now finishing their ROPEs passion projects or Rite of Passage Experiences. Each student has done something that should change their life, and Brandon Kang is no exception.
For his project, he wanted to host a concert where he and his friends would be playing music and raising money for two organizations. He felt like because of COVID, he wasn’t able to play music for people and wanted to make up for it. The money raised during the concert would go to the Endpin Project, a cello group giving back to the company, and Glide Memorial Church. He rounded up a group of him and four others and they practiced together. In total, he practiced for an hour each day for a month. As a group, they practiced together for over five hours in total. The night of the concert, on April 8, at 6-7:30 PM, his work had finally paid off.
Brandon says that most of his project was actually arranging the concert, which took a couple of months. He contacted people throughout the year and managed to set up a concert at the Palo Alto Library. His mentor helped him apply for a Thinkfund sponsorship and after working hard on his application, they agreed. Thinkfund is an organization that sponsors events held by teens. They funded the venue, accompanist, refreshments, and flyers. He tried to advertise as much as possible but his time was restricted. His rough estimate of 40 attendees was doubled at the concert when 70 people came to watch. Even though it was a little messy and chaotic, he managed to keep everything in check, and in the end, they raised $600 for the two organizations. For those who couldn't make it to the concert, he recorded it and created a small series of YouTube videos.
In conclusion, Brandon has shown that with enough perseverance and practice, you can accomplish your goals, and his success is truly inspirational. His ROPEs project went above and beyond expectations, and you can come to watch him talk about his project on Thursday, April 28, during ROPEs night.